Tortoise Trail Multi-Cache
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(regular)
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Come on an environmental and multicultural heritage journey with your tour guide, Yuan. You will be entering an area of significant cultural heritage value so tread lightly so to speak. The artwork and signwriting at stations on the trail was undertaken by Kerang artist, Carol Webb. The trail is marked by dark green posts at 100 metre intervals.
The information board at the 'Tortoise Trail' trailhead disappeared mysteriously in 2013, leaving two stumps. This multi has been adjusted to start at another tortoise-related point. The first three waypoints of this multi are all-weather and wheelchair accessible. From the point where the trail leaves the bitumen road it is strictly dry weather only and high clearance vehicle preferred. Technically, once inside the Lake Boort reserve it is management vehicles only territory, so consider bikes or shanks' pony for this one. In any case, you'll see more!
Waypoint 1: BWOL Salinity Management Plan Lake Flushing S36 07.452 E143 43. 785
Strictly speaking your guide, Yuan, is a turtle but never mind that fine detail! In the 1990s Boort West of Loddon Salinity Management Plan put a channel in place here to allow the lake to be flushed to keep salinity low. This environmental management group adopted the freshwater turtle as their logo.
Question 1: The number of turtles depicted on the sign + 7 = A
Waypoint 2: 'Tortoise Trail' Station 2 - Chinese Gardens S36 07.172 E143 43.975
Chinese market gardeners once grew vegetables in the field to the east. One of their number, Ah Yot (1889-1953) is buried at Boort Cemetery (S36 06.123 E143 42.087), his memorial constructed by a local family and dedicated in traditional fashion with the help of the Bendigo Chinese Association. The bridge over the channel between here and Station 3 is named for Ah Yot.
Question 2: How many hats are being worn in the picture? = B
Waypoint 3: 'Tortoise Trail' Station 3 - Scarred Trees S36 07.315 E143 43.951
This scarred tree was relocated here from Lake Boort many years ago. A canoe would have been made from this red gum.
Question 3: How many Little Pied Cormorants are in the picture? = C
Waypoint 4: 'Tortoise Trail' Station 5 - Middens S36 07.711 E143 43.799
Fenced off to prevent damage from rabbits (and humans!) this midden is typical of cooking mounds throughout the region. The squatter Edward Curr described them this way:
These lumps (heat beads) were about the size of a man's fist. The bottom of the hole being lined with them, a fire was made on top of them, and on the fire were thrown more lumps of clay. When the fire had been burnt down, these last lumps were removed to one side, and the hot embers to the other. The hole being thus cleared of everything except its flooring of hot lumps of clay, the latter were strewn thinly with grass, or with the leaves of a herb called pennyroyal, green if possible, and well damped with water. On this were laid, neatly packed, the animals and roots to be cooked; then came another coating of wet grass, next the remaining lumps of heated clay, and then the burning embers. These were often covered with a sheet of bark, and on top of these was a quantity of earth. In an hour or two the food was taken out well cooked and clean.
Please stay out of the fenced area.
Question 4: How many Aboriginal men are seen dancing in the corroboree? = D
There are six remaining stations on the 'Tortoise Trail' and you are encouraged to explore further; however, from Station 6 the trail is rough, ill-defined in parts and somewhat overgrown, and is better suited to walkers and cyclists. Towards its conclusion near Kinypanial Creek it describes the European occupation of the region. Major Thomas Mitchell and his exploring party passed just south of here in 1836, followed by the squatters, such as the Godfreys, whose homestead on the Boort run was near the trail's end.
For more details, Paul Haw & Margaret Munro: Footprints across the Loddon Plains (2010), Boort Development Inc. (available form Boort Resource & Information Centre is highly recommended.
The cache is located at:
S36 07.DCB E143 43.DDA
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